Following a year impacted by wildfire, flooding and invasive species, farmers and ranchers around the province can recover some of their lost income with the Government of British Columbia’s new AgriStability Enhancement Program.

Significant progress is being made to manage invasive plant species in the Thompson-Nicola region, as part of a $2.2-million pilot project that began this spring and will continue into 2020.

Fussee Lake and New Lake in the East Kootenays have been closed to sport fishing until further notice due to the illegal introduction of invasive fish species, including largemouth bass (Fussee Lake) and yellow perch (New Lake).

The provincial government and Trans Mountain announced a final benefits agreement that will see B.C. workers having priority for construction jobs resulting from Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project.

The B.C. government has proclaimed May 2017 as “Invasive Species Action Month” to help raise awareness of invasive plants and animals in British Columbia and to highlight the environmental and economic damage they can cause.

The provincial government is providing $298,000 to the Northwest Invasive Plant Council to help manage invasive plants in the Prince George region announced local MLAs Shirley Bond and Mike Morris.

British Columbia is focusing on preventing invasive mussels from entering the province by opening two new invasive mussel inspections stations near the border at Yahk and Midway, and extending the hours of all inspection stations throughout the province.